Legendary star

Chapter 454 Crazy Pressing

"The Magic performed very well in the first half, and McGrady played very well against Meng Xu, but the next third quarter will be a big test for the Magic." Halftime At the end of the game, when the players from both sides walked into the player tunnel, Michaels on the sidelines said with great interest.

In the halftime technical statistics of the two teams, McGrady made 19 of 11 shots, 3 of 9 three-pointers, and 4 of 6 free throws. He scored a game-high 5 points, but apart from McGrady, the Magic scored the highest score. Gordon- Girisek's 31 points, except for McGrady, no one on the Magic team scored in double figures.On the Pacers' side, Meng Xu only scored 6 points in the second quarter. Compared with McGrady's stats of 2 points in the half game, it is also much inferior. But on the Pacers side, besides Meng Xu, there are two other players. Scored in double figures, Jermaine O'Neal and Bobby Simmons scored 6 and 19 points respectively, and the Pacers also led the Magic by 11 points 10 to 55.

At the end of the halftime game, the gap of 5 points is actually not that big, but the current Pacers have habitually exerted their strength in the third quarter. Many of them were evenly matched with the Pacers in the first half, even in The team that led the Pacers in the score was unable to withstand the Pacers' counterattack in the third quarter, and was taken away by the Pacers in a wave.

"It is true. From the middle of this season, the Pacers will habitually use the full-court press in the third quarter. At this point, the Pacers are very similar to the 72-win Bulls that year, only slightly different. The difference is that the Pacers still lack a Ron Harper. Whether it is Meng Xujia James Posey or Meng Xujia Hamilton can reach at least 8% of the defensive level of Jordan and Pippen, but Jamal Ting Sley is far behind Ron Harper, if Larry can solve this point of Jamal Tinsley, then the Pacers' full-court pressing tactics will exert even greater power."

"The Pacers' current lineup is giving Ron Harper? Then it's better to just award the championship to the Pacers!" Michaels couldn't help complaining after hearing what Magic Johnson said.Although the Pacers only have Meng Xu as a super giant, they are far less luxurious than the Lakers' Big Four on paper, but the Pacers also have Meng Xu, Mutombo, Jermaine O'Neal, and Reggie Miller. Yes, and the Pacers are actually very strong in both the starting lineup and the bench lineup, especially the bench lineup. It is no exaggeration to describe the Pacers' bench lineup this season as the strongest in the league. , With such a belly, their main lineup may not be able to beat the Pacers' bench lineup.

"Okay, okay!" After hearing Michaels' complaints, Magic Johnson couldn't help but rolled his eyes. It was rare that he didn't turn back. It seemed that he agreed with Michaels' words.After a pause, Magic Johnson went on to say: "Based on the current situation of the Magic, it is actually difficult for them to make any changes during the intermission. This is very detrimental to the Magic."

The current tactics of the Magic are very simple. Whether they are playing a big lineup or a small lineup, they are actually making a fuss around Tracy McGrady. It is impossible to defeat Larry Bird at the tactical level. The odds of the Magic still lie with McGrady. If McGrady can continue to maintain the heroic state of the first half, the Magic still has hope. On the contrary, the Magic may hold on. After less than three quarters, he might kneel down.

"Sure enough, as soon as the third quarter started, the Pacers pressed the Magic all the way!"

"The Magic don't look good!" After the Pacers launched a full-court press, Jacqui Vaughn, who was in control of the ball, was in a hurry immediately, and after barely getting rid of Jamal Tinsley's press, he thought I want to hand over the basketball to McGrady, but Meng Xu directly steals the ball. The first offense after the opening ended in a mistake. This will definitely have a great impact on Jacqui Vaughn's psychology. The morale of other players will also cause some interference.

After Jacqui Vaughn made a mistake, was directly intercepted by the Pacers and scored a fast break, the Magic did make some changes in the subsequent offense. To be on the safe side, after Sean Kemp sent the baseline ball, Jacqui Qui-Vaughn handed the basketball directly to Tracy McGrady, who was covering him, before Jamal Tinsley pressed him.

As a top forward swingman, McGrady's ball-handling skills are naturally nothing to say, even better than the Magic's official point guard Jacqui Vaughn, with excellent wingspan, large palms, and good body coordination. These are McGrady's innate advantages, especially McGrady's left-handed ball control skills, which have been practiced to the point where the left and right hands have no priority. It's not that easy.

"This guy's defense is really good. He deserves to be the best defensive player. He is much better than James Posey." It became Meng Xu. Compared with the first half of the game, Meng Xu's defensive strength has once again increased by a level. Not only in the blockade of the space, McGrady can't see the slightest gap, even in the way of McGrady's dribble. In this attack, McGrady was almost blocked by Meng Xu in the backcourt for 8 seconds. Although after dribbling the ball through the middle circle, Meng Xu's press relaxed a bit, but McGrady could still feel to the surrounding pressure.

In the current situation on the court, as long as the Pacers pinch McGrady, it is equivalent to pinching the Magic's offense. Therefore, after Posey was blocked from defending McGrady, Meng Xu switched positions with Posey and came to defend McGrady himself. Since his teammates are much stronger than McGrady's teammates, it doesn't matter if Meng Xu puts all his energy on the defensive end, but McGrady is different. As long as he dares to relax, the Magic will be over soon, so Meng Xu Xu chose to fight McGrady on the defensive end. In fact, he wanted to speed up the consumption of McGrady's physical strength. After all, McGrady only rested for 3 minutes in the first half, and at the same time he did not have the slightest reservation on both ends of the offense and defense. His physical consumption was obviously greater than his own. .

"Tracy, pass the ball if it doesn't work. It will take 24 seconds for you to dribble." McGrady, who blocked Meng Xu with his right hand and protected the ball with his left hand, was full of enthusiasm when he heard that Meng Xu seemed to care about him. When he spoke provocative words, McGrady also frowned speechlessly.Meng Xu's defense against himself today made McGrady feel like he was playing in the finals. This kind of high-intensity defense and fierce pressing were something McGrady had never encountered in previous defenses. Even Meng Xu, who had fought against him a few times before, had never used such a high-intensity oppressive defense against himself.In particular, the pressure on McGrady is that McGrady does not have the slightest dislocation advantage when facing Meng Xu. In recent seasons, after switching to shooting guard, McGrady, who is 2 meters tall, has no advantage when facing all shooting guards in the league. It has a dislocation advantage. Even facing the most powerful Kobe, McGrady has a certain advantage, but when facing Meng Xu today, McGrady not only feels that he has no advantage at all, and even faintly in some aspects. Being suppressed by Meng Xu was a feeling I had never felt before.

"If McGrady still can't get rid of Meng Xu's blockade in the next game, and his teammates can't provide him with effective help, then the game will lose suspense if it doesn't reach the fourth quarter. "McGrady couldn't get rid of Meng Xu on the field, and Drew Gooden, who was trying to cover for McGrady, was stuck by James Posey. In the end, McGrady could only dribble for more than 20 seconds, and shot very reluctantly. Well, if this situation continues, the magic will collapse in a few minutes.

"Doug Rivers called a timeout. The Magic must make adjustments now. McGrady cannot be allowed to continue to control the ball. This consumes too much energy for him." When he saw the end, he was sweating profusely. McGrady and Michaels in the commentary are already in a hurry.

"The Magic can't do anything about it. If McGrady doesn't control the ball, who will control it? Jacqui Vaughn? If he is allowed to control the ball, the Magic may collapse faster, and under the high-intensity pressure of the Pacers, Jacqui Vaughn It’s hard to say whether it’s possible to pass the ball to McGrady.” Magic Johnson glanced at the Magic’s bench, whether it’s Jacques Vaughn or his substitute Chris Whitney, their two ball-handling abilities It's not as good as McGrady. Maybe the sixth man of the Magic and the former main point guard Darrell Armstrong can try it at this time, but he missed today's game due to injury.

"Damn!" Doug Rivers on the sidelines was holding a tactical board, but he couldn't think of any strategy that could change the situation on the field. If Meng Xu wasn't defending McGrady, if the Pacers didn't have a James Posey With Spider-Man assisting Meng Xu, it doesn't matter who the Magic can use to handle the ball.But now when Meng Xu and James Posey play at the same time, they start aggressively attacking the Magic's backcourt, and with the addition of Jermaine O'Neal, who is as mobile as the outside line, the Magic is really on the verge of collapse.At this time, Doug Rivers really misses Grant Hill very much. If Hill can play, even if he stands on the court, everything is good, and the Magic will not face such a dilemma.

Although the Pacers' defense cannot last the entire second half, as long as the Pacers can maintain this state in the third quarter, it is enough. If Doug Rivers still can't find a way to break the Pacers' press method, then the Magic will definitely collapse, or the Magic is already collapsing now. Less than 2 minutes after the opening of the third quarter, the point difference between the two sides has reached 9 points.

After the timeout, Larry Bird replaced Jamal Tinsley with Tayshaun Prince. The Pacers' pressure on the Magic became even more crazy. From the moment the Magic sent the baseline ball, McGrady, who dribbled the ball, Encountered Meng Xu's pressing, perhaps Doug Rivers' adjustment at the timeout, other Magic players began to cover McGrady in the backcourt, but in the end James Posey and Tyshawn Prince Under the joint blockade of the Chinese Communist Party, these covers eventually became futile.After McGrady dribbled the ball through the middle circle, Drew Gooden immediately pulled up, trying to use the pick-and-roll to cover McGrady, but Drew Gooden, who just entered the league this year, how could he get rid of Jermaine? O'Neal, after consecutive pick-and-roll attempts failed, Drew Gooden had no choice but to take Jermaine O'Neal to the basket.

"Shawn, do you regret it?" Just when there was a lot of pressing and counter-pressing on the field, and in the fight between Kemp and Kemp at the basket, Mutombo, who had nothing to do, suddenly saw a special flash of light in Kemp's eyes. look.

"Do you regret it?" After hearing Mutombo's words beside him, Kemp suddenly felt as if his heart had been hit hard.Camp just now, after seeing Drew Gooden, who wanted to pick and roll with McGrady, was so immature and ridiculous, suddenly a burst of annoyance came to his heart. If he was still at the peak, even if he was only 8% of the peak Ability, the Magic will not fall into such a predicament, McGrady will not be so helpless.

Kemp once thought that he had lost his enthusiasm for basketball, and that he played basketball to support his family, just for this generous salary, which is why, facing the criticism from the outside world, Kemp would say, the reason why I am laying up now , just because I'm tired of dunking!The reason why I don't want to jump is because I'm tired of the sky!The reason for these words.But until he joined the Magic, until he met McGrady, until today, Kemp didn't know that he was wrong. He still wanted to dunk and fly like before, but now he can't fly, he can't dunk anymore.

"Maybe apart from the Mavericks and the Lakers, there is really no team that will be the opponent of the Pacers this season!" When the Magic's consecutive screens ended in failure, and McGrady had to dribble for more than 20 seconds. After the shot, all the reporters and spectators at the scene were shocked by the Pacers' suffocating tight defense.

"Larry, Tyshawn, Meng, and James are far more effective than Jamal. Maybe we can try to increase the time they play at the same time in the future." Seeing Meng Xu, James Posey and Teshaw En-Prince

Lester Conor's excitement at the moment is beyond words.

"Hmm." Looking at the excellent effect of his inadvertent adjustment, Larry Bird also nodded, but at this moment, a crazier idea also sprouted in Larry Bird's heart.

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(End of this chapter)